Saturday, May 12, 2007

Out of Control

So far Moores has shied away from the major restructuring of his backroom staff that events in Australia and the World Cup suggested is essential. Andy Flower has replaced Matthew Maynard - a Fletcher confidant - as assistant coach and England's preparations will be sharper for it. But Kevin Shine, the bowling coach, remains, and nowhere has England's decline been more apparent. Under Troy Cooley England became the chief exponents of reverse swing; under Shine they can barely hit the cut bit.

Interestingly, when Shine took over from Cooley in April 2006, this was how the Guardian (15/4/06) summed up his career:

Playing career: Took 249 first-class wickets in 102 matches at an average of 36.09. Very quick but lacked control